Apple told to obey the law

Jobs’ Mob has been told that ignoring a court order because it does not feel it lost the case is not a good way to proceed through life. Apple has been seething that a court official has been daring to do his job and telling it how to avoid being an evil leader of a cartel designed to fleece its customers. The monitor Michael Bromwich had complained that Apple was refusing to meet with him and was ignoring his requests for information.

Jobs’ Mob felt that meant he was biased. Apparently biased means not doing what Apple told him. Apple’s excuse, the monitor said, was that executives were so hacked off that they lost the case they were too upset to talk to him. Proof that the company still believes in its reality distortion field even when a court tells it otherwise happened last week when Apple demanded that the court remove an official who was supposed to tell Apple how to avoid breaking the law. In legal terms this is the equivalent of a gangster being given probation but refusing to do what his probation officer tells him.

At a hearing, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan denied Apple's request to stay an order requiring an external compliance monitor pending the company's appeal. She wanted the monitorship to succeed for Apple. She said that there was there was "nothing improper" about a declaration filed by a lawyer chosen to serve as monitor, Michael Bromwich, that became the basis of Apple seeking his disqualification.

Theodore Boutrous, a lawyer for Apple, said Apple would appeal, clearly still not getting the message.

Apple also complained about his proposed hourly fee rate of $1,100, which Apple said gave him an incentive to run, "as broad and intrusive investigation as possible." Of course it did not tell the court how much its own lawyers are charging for appeal after appeal just because the outfit cannot understand that it broke the law.